


Be my husband

by Rona23



Series: Merlin´s  magic [19]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Arthur Finds Out About Merlin’s Magic (Merlin), BAMF Merlin (Merlin), Fake Marriage, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Falling In Love, Fluff, Fluff without Plot, Idiots in Love, M/M, Magic, Magic Revealed, Merlin is a Little Shit, Merlin's Magic Revealed (Merlin), the farm au everyone asked for, the plot is implied
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-24
Updated: 2020-03-24
Packaged: 2021-02-28 21:00:59
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,655
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23293648
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rona23/pseuds/Rona23
Summary: Arthur heard rumors about two witches living in a small village named Saccir.In order to find out if and how they were to attack Camelot, Merlin and him pretend to be a married couple that ran away from Camelot.Falling in love with his manservant was not part of the plan.Alternatively: Arthur finally gets to live on a farm with Merlin
Relationships: Gwen/Lancelot (Merlin), Gwen/Lancelot (Merlin) implied, Merlin & Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), past Arthur/Gwen
Series: Merlin´s  magic [19]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1588378
Comments: 74
Kudos: 1105
Collections: merlin fics i read and haven't been the same since





	Be my husband

**Author's Note:**

> Prepare for fluff. That´s literally all I have to say for myself.  
> ENJOY
> 
> Also based on this:  
> https://merlinfallsinlove.tumblr.com/post/612301964856999936/has-anyone-ever-written-a-merthur-fake

„I want you to be my husband.“

Merlin choked on his wine. It didn´t end with just choking as he just coughed and coughed, until one of the other servants came to help him. By simply clapping his back far too lightly.  
After a few minutes of struggling to catch his breath, Merlin looked up at his amused looking king again.  
“You want me to be your what now?”  
Arthur rolled his eyes and took a sip from his own wine. 

The mere fact that Merlin was allowed to sit in the throne room with Arthur, on the round table, AND was offered wine, had Merlin suspicious from the moment he had sat down.  
Also, they were alone. Well, at least on the table they were sitting at.  
The guards and servants positioned on the wall were straightening tall at Arthur´s random proposal. 

“Don´t be so skittish Merlin. I don´t REALLY want to marry you.”, Arthur rolled his eyes, like what he said made any sense.  
“There is a small village near the borders of Camelot. That is said to harbor two sorceresses.”  
Arthur took another sip of his wine, smacking his lips at the taste before putting down his golden goblet.  
He waved for a pitcher to refill it. Odd. Arthur never drank this fast. Maybe he was just as nervous about this whole situation as Merlin was. 

Merlin gave him a pointed nod. “And how am I to be your husband then?”

Arthur grinned, his eyes directed at the ceiling. “Because, Merlin. I have decided that you and I are going to live in said village for a couple of days.  
We need to know what they are planning. They wouldn´t know who we are, when we´re undercover. Two men coming to Saccir will be a bit obvious. Pretending we´re married however and running from Camelot – that would make the whole thing more believable, don´t you think?”

“Why do we need to know what they are planning? Have they done anything?”, Merlin asked, feeling very very weird and warm underneath his skin. It was probably the wine. 

Arthur´s head tilted to the side. Okay, maybe Merlin should have started with something more like: Oh no, they are sorceresses. You want me to go in there and TALK to them like they are NORMAL people with normal lifes and the wish to be left alone??? How DARE you. I´m so scared.  
Or, no even better. Maybe he should be outrageous about the whole be my husband thing.

“BECAUSE, Merlin. They are sorceresses, which makes them dangerous.” Arthur rolled his eyes.  
Merlin frowned. “Ah.”, he said. He looked comical with his jaw clenched like that. His lips in a firm line, his eyes squinted as he didn´t even look at Arthur. As though he looked at someone else and asked them if Arthur was on the cider. Merlin did that sometimes.

“Yes. Pack your things. We´ll leave tomorrow morning.”, Arthur waved his hand at him, dismissing him without further explanation. Merlin supposed there really was no need for more. 

“Absolutely, Sire. Just a -”, Merlin couldn´t help it, as Arthur raised an eyebrow at him, as he took another sip of his wine.  
“Next time you propose to me. Maybe you´d like to – er – set the mood a bit more. I dunno. A candle, perhaps, a ring or something. You know.”  
This time it was Arthur who choked on his wine. Causing Merlin to grin right before he bowed and left the throne room. 

\------------------------

Merlin knew he was missing key information this time. Argh, things would be easier, if Gwen hadn´t run off with Lancelot and married him. Arthur could have just taken HER with him.  
Then again – Merlin really wasn´t too keen on leaving Arthur alone with two sorceresses. How was Arthur so sure they weren´t going to kill him?  
Merlin had to be extra careful this time. He packed his own bag first. After contemplating forth and back, he finally decided to bring his magic book along.  
Maybe he should also make up a believable background story for him and Arthur.  
He knew his king. Arthur had probably not wasted a second to think further than, “we´re married. Bahm, problem solved.”  
What else that entailed, what implications they would have to live with – it was probably better if Merlin was prepared. 

So he kept pondering and pestering himself to find a believable story. And found that it was probably safest to run with a few truths that Arthur didn´t know were actual truths. 

Then he went to pack Arthur´s stuff and prepared the horses. 

\-----------------------

The village Saccir wasn´t too far off. Their ride would take barely a day. And Arthur didn´t stop sputtering emergency plans, in case any of the sorceresses tried to attack them. Or discover the truth behind their pretense. 

Merlin rolled his eyes, half listening to his rambling king.  
“Oh, and Merlin. I know you´re not very good at lying. So if you get unsure or anything, just call for me, i´ll help you out.”  
Merlin rolled his eyes. “Speaking of which, DARLING.”, Merlin giggled at that as he handed Something glittering and silver to Arthur. 

Arthur´s eye twitched at him. “Don´t call me that. What is that.”  
“I´m your husband, HONEY. I HAVE to call you that. And that, my lord. Is a ring. I let Gwen make some for us.”

“You asked GWEN!”, Arthur looked startled at that, but took the iron ring anyway. 

“Who else was I going to ask? The royal blacksmith? He would have made some of gold or silver.”

Arthur frowned. “Yeah. What´s so wrong about that? These will rust, Merlin.”, the king looked at the ring like he was scolding it for not being up to his standard. But it fit his ring finger just fine. 

“Because we are two men, Arthur. We´re running away from Camelot. Clearly we had to hide our relationship for a very long time. These rings are the only thing we could get before we left.”, Merlin held up his own hand, where an equal ring sat. “Our marriage was probably held in secret as well.”  
Merlin shook his head. Yeah, obviously, Arthur hadn´t wasted a thought about a suitable background lie.  
Arthur gave him another look.  
“You´ve given this an awful lot of thought, Merlin.”, he said, pushing away a random branch that otherwise would have hit his face. 

Arthur was wearing Armor too. God how stupid could he be? Okay, fine. Merlin sighed. He could still keep up the lie with this.  
“What else was I supposed to do? I´m the only one with a brain here.”

“Your brain is the size of a peanut.”, Arthur retorted, but Merlin only laughed. “A brain is a brain. Be glad we have one.”

\--------------------------

The village was small. Even from the distance one could see the smoke from the few fires that were lit within the houses.  
It looked an awful lot like Ealdor. The people were farmers. All of them. Barely surviving on what little they had.  
Just at the entrance to the forest, there was an empty house. One that was almost ruins. How Arthur had found it, or how he had expected it to be rebuild – Merlin could only guess. But he had the vague feeling this was going to be HIS job. 

“Get off the horse, Merlin. We´ll send them back to Camelot. We can´t arrive with two horses, now, can we?”  
Well, technically they could. And pretend they had stolen them, Merlin thought, but did what his king said anyway. 

At least Arthur had the courtesy to carry some of his own stuff for once.  
Well, not that anyone saw them sneak into their new home.  
“God, this is disgusting. Merlin, clean this up, please.”, Arthur said, as soon as they had entered.  
“I´m not your housewife.”, Merlin muttered, but went to do his work anyway. He was tired. But Arthur was right. Most of the house was broken so that water had settled in the dining area.  
It smelled muddy and a little funny in here. So Merlin opened the windows first, before he began picking up the random utensils that lay around within the hut. 

“I could really use a bath right now.”, Arthur sighed, sitting down on the one still functioning chair.  
“I thought I was supposed to clean up?”, Merlin said, eyebrow raised.  
“Yeah. And you can continue, after the bath.”, Arthur said with an infuriating smile. 

“Why did I marry you again?”, Merlin asked, the grin twitching between his pointed glares, but Arthur frowned.  
“Because of my good looks and charming personality.”  
“Ah, so you decided I have a bad taste in men. Interesting. I´ll keep that in mind. What else have you planned for us?”, Merlin shook his head, ignoring the bathing request, as he continued tidying the room. 

“What do you mean, what else I have planned for us?”, Arthur asked confused.  
“We´re going to live here. Convince people we´re married and find the sorceresses. Find out how they plan on bringing down Camelot. And then avert their attempts with as little casualties as possible. Or gain their trust so they won´t attack Camelot in the first place.”

Merlin halted at the last sentence, turning to Arthur in confusion. “You think we can besway them NOT to attack? What happened to magic corrupts?”

Arthur looked at him like he was talking to a child. “Clearly, that isn´t true. You remember the Dolma? Okay, yes, she kidnapped you and all. But she did heal Gwen, when Lancelot managed to convince her to go into the sea. Like she promised.  
And she had asked nothing in return. If SHE can be a good sorceress. Maybe these two are as well.”

Merlin blinked. He had completely forgotten about the whole Dolma incident. It just – hadn´t seemed important. Now that he thought about it – yeah. Maybe he had convinced Arthur to look at magic differently. A smile ghosted his lips.

He coughed. “Anyway. I mean, do you have a story for us? How exactly the two of us met. How we got married and all that? The witches are definitely going to ask us questions. And it would be best, if we both were on the same page.”, Merlin said seriously.  
Arthur´s eyes looked at Merlin in contemplation, before leaning back in his chair.  
“Nah. You´ll come up with something.”

“Didn´t you say I should call for you, if I didn´t know what else to say?”  
“Yes. Then I´ll fill in the gaps.”

Merlin shook his head. What an idiot. Seriously, why did he marry him again?

“Alright. Then how about you fill the gaps now. You wanted a bath. I can´t clean up the house AND repair the roof AND treat you like a king. Here, take the bucket and fedge some water from the well.”  
Merlin through a bucket at Arthur who looked at Merlin like he had gone mad. 

“Excuse me?”, Arthur said, eyes wide.  
“What?!”, Merlin grinned. “Hurry up, my love. If you get enough water, we might get to bath together.”, he wiggled his eyebrows playfully. Okay, this was fun. Arthur flushed bright red at the suggestion.  
“I am not going to bath with you!”, Arthur said through gritted teeth. 

Merlin flattered his eyelashes. “What a shame.”  
Arthur gave him a disgruntled look, as he took the bucket and actually left the hut.  
Merlin laughed. He couldn´t believe that actually worked. He was enjoying this a lot.

Maybe he should flirt with Arthur more often. That face was absolutely worth it. So now, before Arthur returned – Merlin rubbed his hands together, checking the window if Arthur was still looking.  
By the looks of it, Arthur was already conversing with their new neighbors who asked him about his armor.  
Merlin shook his head, before he muttered a spell that ordered the cleaning utensils to begin cleaning the room themselves.  
Now Merlin would get on the roof and repair the damage. From there, he would be able to see Arthur return and desinchant the tools before the king noticed anything. 

\--------------

Arthur growled as he took the bucket and left the small hut. Merlin was ordering him around like he was his mother. Good grief. Those little flirting jabs shouldn´t get to him like that.  
Wait a second. Where even was the well?  
Not to mention – oh no. Arthur was still wearing his armor. Too late. The neighbors were approaching him already. 

“A knight?”, One of them whispered, pointing at Arthur in fear. “A knight of Camelot?”  
Er – okay now that was strange.  
These people weren´t supposed to recognize him, yes. And they hadn´t so far. But since when was the armor of a knight something villagers feared to see?

“Oh, hello. Excuse me.”, Arthur said, upon seeing the old woman with her son.  
“I erm -”, he began. Unsure what to say. 

“I´m Sir William. Erm. Only William now. I´m your new neighbor.”  
Okay, so far so good, he thought, as the old woman hesitated, but shook his hand anyway.  
Sir William. Surely that was a name some people would remember. It was the same title Arthur had used when he fought in a tournament incognito. 

Since Sir William HAD disappeared after he won the tournament, surely people wouldn´t be too confused about the whole thing. At least now his first lie added up again.

From his peripheral vision, he saw a figure go out the hut he was supposed to live in with Merlin. Said figure climbed up the house wall like it was nothing.  
Okay, this was Merlin. Repairing the roof top. Made sense. 

The old woman looked at Arthur, then to Merlin, then at Arthur´s hand. Then she smiled. As though she seemed to understand.  
“I see.”, her old voice was raspy. But she smiled now.  
“I guess, you two are on the run as well?”, she pointed at Arthur´s iron ring. Arthur looked down on it, swiftly taking his hand to himself. Hiding the ring behind his free hand.  
Huh – why did he just do that. 

“Er yes. Merlin´s my – husband.”, he explained lamely. God what had he been thinking. Of course nobody would believe that for a second.  
“What do you mean with, you´re on the run too?”, Arthur asked quietly, trying to distract her as fast as possible. Surely she wasn´t one of the sorceresses he was searching for?

“My wife and I are witches. We´ve been on the run for at least twenty years.”, she sighed, curiously eyeing Arthur´s sword. Arthur blinked. Really? It was THAT easy? He just asked and she -  
Why did he make up that marriage lie again?  
He was even wearing armor! This woman must be crazy. 

“My name is Ruby, by the way. My wife´s name is Sapphire. If you want, you and your husband can come over for dinner tonight.”

“Aunt Ruby, do you think this is wise?”, the tall lanky man leaned down to the bubbly old woman.  
Only now did Arthur notice how cracked and wittered her skin looked. She looked happy though. Happy and innocent.  
Okay, that was new as well. Sorceresses weren´t – innocent.

“Oh yes, this is Lars. Our neighbor. He helps us on the farm.”  
How old was she? Seventy? Eighty? Maybe more? And she was still working on the farm with her wife. 

“Oh – nice to meet you, Lars.”, Arthur held out his hand awkwardly. The lanky man shook it hesitantly. 

“May I ask, William. Why did you and your husband run away from Camelot? Marrying a man is not illegal in Camelot, as far as I know. And king Arthur is said to be a generous king. Surely he would have let you marry your husband, if you just asked?”

Arthur paled. Okay – think Arthur, think. Though he did store away the information that this sorceress thought of him as a generous king. Then, the old woman clapped her hands, as though she figured it out by herself.  
“I´m sorry. I didn´t mean to pry. Is it him or you?”, she asked, as though Arthur´s behavior gave something away.

“It´s not his fault really – I think it´s on me. I -er. Wasn´t supposed to marry him. My father was against it. Because Merlin is – he´s -”, Arthur´s voice trailed of. He was meaning to say servant, but somehow he couldn´t end that sentence. That sounded unreasonable. Somehow. 

“I see. I suppose it happened suddenly?”, Ruby asked gently. Arthur locked eyes with her and realized her eyes were of a dark red. So that´s where she got her name from.  
“Yes.”, he answered slowly. Though he didn´t know what she meant. 

“Well – it was the same for Sapphire. I´ve had it far longer than her. But I was used to hide it. We fell in love and one day. Magic came to her as well.  
Her father blamed me for it, when he found out I also had it.”

Okay, Arthur had messed up. THAT´s what she meant? God no. Now the sorceresses believed MERLIN had magic. F*ck. And what did that mean anyway.  
It happened suddenly. It just came to them?

“I was always taught, people chose to use magic.”, he finally began carefully, but Ruby smiled at him.  
“Yes. Camelot isn´t very educated on the matters of magic. Especially after Uther´s little stunt with the Purge.”, she sighed sadly.  
“It´s a shame the new king has learned only from his father. I wish he was a good young lad like you. Someone who didn´t care about people´s status. And saw only the good in people.  
Maybe then Camelot wouldn´t have so many enemies.  
Well, if you excuse me – my wife is waiting at home. If you want, you and your husband could visit us for dinner.”

With that she patted his shoulder and walked off. The young man – Lars, helping her over the cobbled stone road.  
Okay – this day escalated quickly. 

\-------------------

“You told them I was a sorcerer.”, Merlin blinked at Arthur, during their little lunch. How Merlin had managed to clean up and repair the house so fast – who knew.  
Arthur had more pressing matters to care about. He had also forgotten about his bath and settled with washing himself. (He really didn´t want to run around fifty times to fill a bathtub they didn´t even possess.

“No – SHE made that up. I just went along with it.”, Arthur buried his face in his hands. He only looked up, when Merlin sighed again. 

“I told you to think this through. But to be honest – I did research a bit about sorcerers.  
I figured it would be easier for them to trust us, if the reason we ran was that one of us had magic.”, Merlin took a sip of his tea.  
How on earth was this man so calm about this. 

“You what?”, Arthur asked exasperated. Merlin was PREPARED for something like this?  
“Honestly, Arthur. Do you think I´m completely incompetent?”, Merlin stood up and went to get his own bag, before he hesitated a second. Then he pulled a large leather book out of it.  
“I – er – asked Geoffrey to get me this.”, he said and shoved it over to Arthur. 

Arthur looked at it surprised, before he opened it. Then he gasped.  
“This is a magic book! Those were supposed to be destroyed!”, he stared at Merlin who was fidgeting in his stance. 

“I thought it might help us keep up appearances.”, he shrugged. Under Uther´s reign, Merlin would have been hanged just for having this. Arthur switched a few paged, reading or rather trying to read intently what it said. 

“You sure this will help us? I can´t even read this.”, he said.  
“Yeah. But I can. Don´t worry. We´ll get this.”, Merlin reassured him, and it managed to calm Arthur. At least a little. Wait – why could Merlin read this? 

“Well then.”, Merlin clapped his hands.  
“I cooked. You´ll clean up.”, he said, grinning widely, causing Arthur´s mood to snap back into familiar territory. 

“And why on earth would I do that?!”, Arthur hissed.  
Merlin smiled sweetly at that. “Why, because you love me of course.” Arthur threw his plate at Merlin. 

\--------------------------

Arthur had expected to be found out during Dinner with Ruby and Sapphire.  
Arthur had finally switched into normal clothes, because even he had recognized how idiotic he would look if he entered a house of two old women, armed.  
That didn´t make him any less scared though. Because those two women were witches. 

They stood in front of their little hut. Warm and welcoming looking from the outside. As Arthur felt a hand put into his. He jerked away.  
“What the hell are you doing?”, he hissed at Merlin, the shock interrupting his fear momentarily.  
Merlin gave him an unimpressed glance.  
“I´m your husband. You´re worried. So I´ll hold your hand, until you feel better.”

Arthur wanted to pull Merlin´s hair at that, but sighed. Merlin was right. All for the pretense of course. So he took Merlin´s hand back in his. Merlin smiled, sending shivers down his spine.  
Of course Merlin was enjoying this.  
Arthur took a deep breath. He couldn´t deny, it was a little comforting to hold his servant´s hand. 

A second later, light broke through the opening door, blinding Arthur for a second.  
“William. Merlin.”, Ruby looked pleased at their appearances.  
“Come in, come in.”

“You told them your name was William?”, Merlin whispered in Arthur´s ear with a chuckle.  
“What other excuse did I have? I couldn´t just introduce myself as the king, right?”  
Merlin laughed. 

“Okay, okay. I got it.”, but Merlin shook his head. 

They followed her invitation. Arthur looked around the hut. It was decidedly warmer and more inviting in here than it was in their own hut.  
But it was obvious these two women were witches. There were crystals and bottles on the walls. Some lizards waited in giant terrariums, boring wholes into Arthur´s skull. 

Merlin didn´t even seem phased. Apparently the man didn´t care they had just went straight into the belly of the beast. 

“Sit down, sit down. Make yourselves comfortable.”, Ruby said, pointing at two seats opposite to her and her wife.  
Sapphire looked slightly younger than Ruby. Calmer and more reserved. But equally happy as her wife. Her eyes were piercing blue and Arthur wondered how two women had found each other that were both named after the color of their eyes.  
Was it destiny? Who knew. 

“I hope you don´t mind. We´re both vegetarian. We don´t consume meat.”, Sapphire said quietly. Her words clear and soft. Almost like a cold wind in your ears.  
Arthur looked at the pot in the middle of the dining table. It contained some kind of soup.  
Well – he could probably live without eating meat for one night, he supposed. 

Merlin´s eyes however lit up. Of course. Merlin loved animals. And animals had a strange liking to him as well. Why was he surprised Merlin would be happy to see people sharing his strange opinion on hunting. 

“Of course not. I´m very pleased.”, Merlin said, holding out his hand to greet both women. Arthur just nodded at them. He wasn´t feeling safe enough to lower his guard like that.  
At least not without his armor. 

“Well then, dig in.”, Ruby said cheerfully, already handing out plates full of soup.  
Arthur eyed his plate for a second, debating whether or not it was poisoned. But Merlin looked fine, as he did as he was told without a second thought. So Arthur only shrugged, before he as well began eating.  
It tasted surprisingly well. 

“So – may I ask. How did the two of you meet?”, Ruby asked excitedly, while Sapphire rolled her eyes. Clearly, Ruby was a sucker for romance. 

Arthur opened his mouth, but he hadn´t thought about that part yet. Merlin, however, seemed eager to answer. Arthur could only stare at his manservant who chattered so mindlessly. Who lied so well. 

“Well. I was the personal manservant of king Arthur himself.”, he began with a bright grin and Arthur cursed himself for bringing this idiot along.  
“Naturally, king Arthur fights a lot of tournaments in his free time. Except for one time, where Sir William -”, he clapped Arthur´s shoulder.  
“came to Camelot. Arthur was out to fight some kind of creature somewhere. I was told to stay home. So I helped out some of the knights during the tournament.  
That´s where I met him. He was – admittedly, kind of a prat.”, Merlin nodded to his own story. Arthur listened intently. To be fair – this story didn´t seem too far off.  
It played well with their former lie too. 

“We came to talk and I realized after some time -”, Arthur perked up. Okay, now it was coming. Blackmail material. 

“That he was actually a lot more honorable than I thought.”, Merlin´s eyes became glassy, as though he remembered something.  
“He treated me like an equal, even though I was just a servant. We met a few times after the tournament after that. First because we were friends, later we became something more.  
A few – months after that, I -”, Merlin trailed off. Blinking slightly, as though he really remembered this happening. 

“I woke up from a nightmare. There was a candle in my room that I lit with my mind. I screamed, then it exploded. There was a commotion, because Uther found out about it.  
I had to leave, before they found me. I thought William would hide me for a while, because I trusted him. But I didn´t dare tell him what happened.  
At some point I had to, because William found out why they were searching for me. 

I thought he would hate me.”, Merlin locked eyes with Arthur, a fond expression on his face. As though he could really see all that. Arthur´s breath was stuck in his throat. How did this sound so – convincing?

“He asked me to marry him instead. I think that was also the first time he told me he loved me.  
We went to get some rings, married in secret and ran away together. The rest is history.”  
Softly, Merlin grabbed for Arthur´s hand, looking at him softly. 

Arthur´s heart was beating rapidly. He had never seen Merlin look at anyone quite like this.  
Awkwardly, he petted Merlin´s hand.  
Suddenly, Merlin´s eyes snapped back to the couple who looked at them moved to tears from their story. 

“Well. He IS a knight, of course. So it was hard to get this passed his father. William himself – still has to learn a little about magic. But he´s doing very well.”  
Then Merlin laughed. “Well, I guess, so do I.”

They all smiled at each other. Only Arthur couldn´t leave his eyes from Merlin´s. Who was squeezing his hand now, like it was normal for them. Like they did this all the time.

\------------------------

They left the women´s house when it was already dark. The stars shone brightly upon them, as Merlin grabbed for Arthur´s hand again. This time, Arthur let him. Simply because he knew Ruby and Sapphire were watching them from their windows.  
Yep, that was the only reason. 

They walked back slowly. Why had they come to live on this farm again?

“I didn´t know you could lie so well.”, Arthur finally said as they closed the door to their own hut behind them. Merlin shrugged, letting go of Arthur´s hand.  
The king cursed himself as he found his own hand chasing after him. 

“Well – I told you, I have many talents.”

“I don´t suppose one of them is sleeping on the floor?”, Arthur´s grin twitched. Seriously, if anyone would see them now, nobody would think they were a couple. They bickered too much for that.  
(Tell yourself that, sweetheart. Maybe you´ll believe it.)

“Don´t tell me you´re afraid to share a bed with your husband.”, Merlin winked and god, no. Arthur had not considered that. Now that he thought about it. Maybe they had to. To keep up appearances. If anyone broke into the house at night – not that that would happen – it would be a bit too obvious if they -

“Just kidding. We don´t have a bed. I checked that. We´ll both have to sleep on the floor.  
I stole some straw from the stalls to make a makeshift bed. It´s not ideal – but we don´t have anything better than that.”

Arthur looked at him like the startled stoat he was. Of course. Baths, beds. Those were luxuries only few can afford.  
“Why did I marry you again?”, Arthur groaned, a little put off by his servant. 

“Because -”, Merlin grinned, as he grabbed for Arthur´s significantly bigger bag than his own.  
“I stole some pillows for you.”, he threw two tall pillows in Arthur´s direction.  
Arthur caught them out of reflex. Those were old pillows. But pillows none the less. 

Arthur grinned. “Ah, now I get it.”, he said, chuckling lightly. He didn´t notice the strange look that answer caused on his manservant. 

\-------------------

All in all, Arthur thought things could have been worse. The witches were actually quite nice. And during the next weeks, they helped Arthur and Merlin set up their own little garden.  
And they kept talking and explaining magical principles to Merlin. Who listened eagerly. 

Arthur could only grin at them. He thought, he could get used to this kind of life. Not that he had to. But he could imagine it. Even the magic.  
If Arthur wasn´t still unsure whether or not these witches were planning anything.  
Hell – he had imagined this before. Didn´t he mention something like that to Gwen once?  
That sometimes he imagined living on a farm. 

“Obviously I´d take Merlin with me.”  
Huh.  
Had he really said that? Arthur looked over his shoulder, watching as Merlin and Ruby set up some strawberry plants.  
Him and Sapphire were closer to the house. Repairing some of the broken chairs that Arthur and Merlin had found in the attic. 

Arthur was glad he had brought Merlin along. As much as he joked about Merlin being a loner and having no social skills – people felt naturally drawn to the man who had no self preservation.  
People trusted him easily. And it was the other way around as well.  
Arthur knew that from experience. And apparently his manservant was a pretty good liar too. If Arthur didn´t know better, he would think Merlin really was in love with him. Somehow – he wouldn´t mind too much about that. 

“You really care about him, don´t you?”, a soft voice startled him and he snapped his glance away from his manservant.  
“Hmm?”, he asked in surprise. He hadn´t expected Sapphire to speak up. 

Sapphire smiled at him. She reminded him of a very expensive vitrine. He didn´t know why. But she had that same sense of “high value”, “Please don´t knock on the glass” that vitrines sometimes had. 

“I just – you remind me of myself, when I was younger.”, she said, her wittered smile glowing from happiness and nostalgia.  
“You look at him like I look at Ruby.”, she said. “You really love him, don´t you?”

Arthur´s eyes widened. Was she serious? He had just looked over, he hadn´t -  
What look? What was she talking about?! It was Merlin who looked convincing, not Arthur! Because Arthur had treated Merlin like he usually does!  
He wasn´t exactly trying! Maybe these people were too easy to deceive.

“To be honest, I was a little worried when the two of you came here. Since you´re a knight and all. And knights tend to – well – kill our kind without thinking twice.  
And I saw the two of you bickering all the way here. I could see you sending away the horses. But I guess that was smart of you. Having horses here, when the king himself must have search parties all over the country for you – it´s dangerous. 

At first I thought, you were just seeking us out to kill us and I was so mad at Ruby for trusting you so easily.”, then she smiled when she looked at Arthur, who returned a startled stare. 

“But when I see the way you look at him – it´s obvious. He´s your destiny. You feel it too, don´t you?”  
Arthur nodded, though his head was screaming at him to shake his head. To scream that she was wrong.  
But his thought sounded weirdly like a lie. Like something he was only telling himself.

“Yeah.”, Arthur coughed out the answer, looking back at Merlin. Wondering how he must look when he looked at him. How must he look if it convinced Sapphire that he was in love with Merlin. Of all people -  
Then – and only then did Arthur notice how the corners of his mouth twitched up, when he saw Merlin laughing. Only now did he notice how his eyes softened at the sight of the sun outlining Merlin´s form. And the wind brushed through his hair.  
How his heart rate both picked up and calmed at the same time when he just saw that smile.  
How a warmth spread through his body like it hadn´t since he fell in love with Gwen all those years ago. 

Oh. 

Oh.

\--------------------

The revelation had come so suddenly, Arthur couldn´t help but feel totally out of it, whenever Merlin decided to ironically call him sweetheart or honey, or darling or -  
God there was no end to the endearments Merlin used just to torment him with. 

“You know, for a ruby, Ruby has a surprisingly green thumb -”, Merlin rattled on during dinner, when they sat across from each other. A candle lit between them, because they hadn´t had the time to collect firewood just yet. 

It was so damn romantic, Arthur found it hard to breathe. Let alone eat.  
“Aren´t you hungry? I made sure to catch a bunny, because you´ve been complaining about the food all week.”, Merlin raised an eyebrow.  
Startled enough, Arthur blushed furiously. 

“Arthur, are you okay?”, Merlin held his hand on Arthur´s face. “You´re beat red. You didn´t catch a cold, did you? I TOLD you to put on a jacket. It´s still spring.”, Merlin scolded him.  
But Arthur couldn´t quite answer, because Merlin was so close. 

“I- I´m fine.”, he said. God, did his voice have to crack like that? Couldn´t he just focus on – capturing those two witches and head home?  
Oh, this had been such a bad idea. Making Merlin his fake husband. What a stupidly foolish idea.  
It was that they had been sharing the hut and their make shift bed the entire two weeks they had been here.  
That must be it. Arthur hadn´t had any time for himself. Surely that was the explanation. 

But his heart betrayed him, because it leaped by the look in Merlin´s eyes. Not by a suggestive movement or anything.  
“Has Sapphire used magic in front of you?”, Merlin finally asked, observant enough to notice how startled Arthur was at every move he made. 

“She – er – no. She just – asked me about our love life.” Okay, Arthur you just digged your own grave.  
Merlin snorted adorably. Why? Universe? Why?

“Oh my. And what did you say, my love? I hope you didn´t leave out ANY of the juicy details.”

Arthur´s stomach twitched at that. Nope, not imagining THAT right now.  
Who was he fooling?! Arthur´s mind kept repeating Merlin´s “my love” in his head like a mantra. It was sarcasm, but that still didn´t fail to make him blush even further. 

“NO. I told her it was none of her business.” Honestly, how was Merlin so calm about this? Right, right. This was nothing more than a joke to him. Like it should be for Arthur.  
For heaven´s sake, it had been ARTHUR´s idea. HE had been trying to torment MERLIN.  
“Of course, hun. “, Merlin shook his head, still laughing as he went to clean up the dishes. 

Arthur´s head hit the table. 

\-----------------

It was another month of daily tormenting later, that things changed drastically once more.  
Arthur – who had never in his life actually done any manual labor – had decided sitting around doing nothing would be no good. Especially not, when he kept worrying about Camelot.  
Even though Morgana had been defeated, he couldn´t be certain his kingdom wasn´t under attack. 

Leaving Leon in charge wasn´t a bad idea. But Arthur was the king. He couldn´t stop worrying.  
So he went to gather some firewood. It couldn´t be THAT hard, if Merlin kept doing it all the time. 

That´s how he found himself hiding from Merlin and Ruby behind a tree. His heart was beating rapidly, because he couldn´t have – just seen that. 

“You´re lying to him.”, Ruby was whispering now.  
And god, no. That was an understatement. Merlin wasn´t just lying to him. He was -  
He was – deceiving him. Betraying him. 

Merlin could actually use magic. He just USED MAGIC!  
Then why was Ruby so surprised? SHE of all people shouldn´t be.  
“Yes.”, Merlin said.  
“So, you are Emrys.”, she said and Arthur held his hand over his heart, too startled to move.  
Merlin had practiced magic. Right in front of him. Whatever that shield thing was supposed to be – it didn´t look natural. And certainly not like something a beginner sorcerer would manage to conjure.

“Yes. That´s what the druids call me.” Arthur closed his eyes, refusing to let the tears spill. That´s why they hadn´t found evidence of any plan against Camelot. Merlin was working WITH them. He should have known. Damn it, he should have known. The knowledge pierced his heart. He didn´t even know Merlin´s real name. 

“But please call me Merlin. That´s what my mom named me. I was born like this. I just -”, Merlin sighed.

“No. I understand. I just – don´t get it. Aren´t you supposed to protect your king? Why did you run away with this knight?”, Ruby asked confused.  
Arthur blinked rapidly. Protect -? Okay, magic or not. Arthur didn´t need any protection. Least of all from Merlin. 

“He´s your destiny. You shouldn´t run away with some – knight. How is magic to ever return to Camelot if you -”

Merlin interrupted her. “Destiny may have chosen the king for me. But I am protecting the man I love. I´d give up my magic, if I had to to stay with him.”, Merlin replied earnestly.  
“If that was possible.”, Merlin sighed and Arthur froze.  
He didn´t mean that – did he? Wait – Merlin was not planning anything to betray him? WAIT a second – the man he loved... That was part of the pretense, wasn´t it? It must be. Merlin would never -

“Wouldn´t you, if that meant you could stay with Sapphire?”  
“Of course I would.”, Ruby sounded scandalized.

“Well then. Just – don´t tell him then, okay. I can´t be by his side, if he sends me away. I´d rather die.”

Arthur sucked in another deep breath. Then he heard Ruby shuffling.  
“Alright. But – would you show me what you were just trying to do? That looked like a shield. A powerful one, too. I know Emyrs is said to be the strongest sorcerer in existence.  
But – i´d like to see it for myself.”

Arthur, curious now, hid behind a small bush. Glad his clothes were gray and dark like the bushes around him. They would hide him perfectly. Then he saw Merlin smile again, hands raised, eyes glowing with magic.  
As a powerful shield build up around them. Arthur could see the power, could see the shield. He had faced many sorcerers before.  
His own sister being the most powerful of them all.  
But what Merlin did here, was even stronger. 

There was a calmness that settled upon the forest and upon Arthur´s own heart as he felt the warmth of the magic. It was a familiar sensation. Like the orb he had seen all those years ago, in that cave where Nimueh had left him as a snack for spiders.  
It was the same sensation. The same power. The same magic caster....  
Arthur didn´t understand. Merlin had been dying back than how did he -

And then Arthur could imagine it. All those unexplained miracles that had saved his life. That fought their enemies. All of that – that had been Merlin.  
Protecting the man he loved. Please let that part be true.

Arthur watched, as Merlin made the shield disappear, casting magical bunnies out of nowhere that lightened the darkening forest. Ruby kept smiling at Merlin, but she left, as the day started to fade.  
Merlin made a fire, forming the flames to a dragon. The crest of Camelot. He murmured to himself and suddenly there was Arthur´s own face in the flames. And Merlin was smiling softly at it. 

Okay, this was it. Arthur had seen enough. Merlin – betraying him? Yeah, no. That was impossible.  
He stood up from where he was hiding, leaving his spot to walk directly at Merlin. Who didn´t notice him at first.  
But when he did, oh boy did he look shook. Good, Arthur thought. The man had a lot of explaining to do. The flames reverted back to normal flames, as Merlin stumbled backwards against the next tree. 

“Arthur! I – er – I can explain – I -”

“Shut up.”, Arthur breathed, but no air filled his lungs. Because despite everything Arthur had just seen, or – god beware – BECAUSE of what he had just seen, Arthur wanted to shut Merlin up.  
And his mind was happy to apply him with lots and lots of images as to HOW. 

“Arthur! Please, listen. I was BORN with magic.”, Merlin began to explain. “I´ve only ever used it to help you. All for the love of Camelot! I swear.”  
The worst part was, Arthur believed it. Mainly, because he didn´t have it in him to NOT believe Merlin. Merlin was the one person he ever really trusted.  
If Merlin wanted him gone, if Merlin wanted to take him out of the way, surely he could. He had seen Merlin use magic. Like other people would breathe or dance or – just live.

Merlin used magic on instinct, if he wanted to defend himself, he wouldn´t be cowering before Arthur as though his entire life depended on Arthur´s word.  
“Did you mean all that?”

Merlin stilled, his arms falling to the side, as he discovered that Arthur was hurt – but not angry hurt. Just hurt and something else that had Merlin shiver with anticipation.  
“I -”, Merlin´s voice trailed of slowly, for once unable to answer.  
“Did someone tell you to serve me?”, Arthur asked, already fearing the nod that Merlin slowly gave as an answer. Arthur closed his eyes.  
“At first.”, Merlin finally began. “I didn´t understand why I should protect you.  
Of all people it was such a prat who was destined to be the greatest king to have ever lived?  
With time I came to see what the dragon meant.”

Okay, good to know it was a dragon who ordered his manservant around. 

Arthur opened his eyes, just to find Merlin closer than ever.  
Merlin wasn´t cowering on the tree anymore. He was standing upright, only inches apart from Arthur. “It might be my destiny to protect you. But I chose to follow it. Because I believe in you.”  
Merlin smiled, while Arthur´s own eyes followed every movement in his face.  
“Even if I´d kill you for treason?”, Arthur replied dryly, because Merlin was a sorcerer. And this was still an option.  
Strangely enough, Merlin smiled at that.  
“Rather die by your hand than be banished from your side.”

Arthur´s eyes scanned his servant for any sign of that being a lie. There was no fear in Merlin´s eyes. No hate, no anger. Just – regret. But not for Arthur finding out. For something else.  
It didn´t really matter. Because there was also trust and honesty and Arthur couldn´t remember ever seeing Merlin being – Merlin – so much. 

Merlin tilted his head, as Arthur didn´t answer. Arthur felt vulnerable to those eyes. But that tilt of the head, that smile, that – curiosity. “I meant it. All of it.”, he confirmed. 

Arthur couldn´t hold back any longer.  
He closed the distance.  
The small yelp of Merlin, when he realized what Arthur was doing, had Arthur almost stop mid motion. But it was too late anyway. He was already kissing him.  
If that wasn´t what Merlin wanted – well. Maybe he shouldn´t be kissing him back then.  
And when their fingers interlaced, Arthur could feel his iron ring and wondered, if maybe they should replace them after all.  
Gold, he decided, brought out Merlin´s eyes.


End file.
